I have a vegetarian coming for Christmas dinner - ideas please

[larus]

I normally do a traditional Christmas dinner - roast turkey or goose with all the trimmings - and will be doing so again this year, for about 10 people. One of whom is a veggie.

Does anyone have some ideas that could help? Ideally am after recipes that can be prepared/cooked in advance and then reheated. Given the amount of food to fit in the oven, if it can be done in a loaf tin that would really help! And I definitely want something that 'goes with' the rest of the lunch - apart from turkey and sausages, everything else will be vegetarian as I want them to feel they are included in the meal (if that makes sense).

I think you also need to talk to your friend about what they would like. The veggie side of my family get a bit funny about eating stuff that has been cooked in the same oven as the meat. Ask what she suggests

twice-baked cheese souffle

you can make it in advance and it's really easy. you can make it for one or two people and it looks quite fancy. it ticks the protein box without being a meat substitute (long-term vegetarian in me shudders to think that "nut roasts" actually exist).

i think there is a delia smith one. i have made a sally clarke one with goats cheese many, many times

don't worry, littleomar, nut roasts don't taste anything like meat! but they can be dry if they're not done right. my friend's mum does one that yummmmmmmmy and moist. noone else I know can do that.

ChippingIn/op - I've just found this Hugh Fartley Winehead stuffed BNS recipe that I think I will base my creation on, using stilton as the blue cheese and substituting chestnuts for the walnuts. Or I may just stick with walnuts.

Tell me how to post half a stuffed BNS effectively and its yours, ChippingIn.

Stuffed butternut squash is a v good idea. Tbh, I'd stuff and cook both halves because it would be nice sliced up for the meat eaters too. We usually have one stuffed bns between four of us when I do it - half plus the stuffing plus all the veggies makes A LOT of dinner for one!

My steoson will not eat anything which has been cooked in the same oven as the turkey or roast potatoes.

This means he doesn't get roasties per se, I par boil potatoes diced small and fry them off.

Just what you need when furiously plating up at the last minute for Christmas lunch.

It's a good job I love him.

That sounds lovely :) I would swap the walnuts for toasted pine nuts (hate hate hate walnuts & love love love pinenuts) and leave out the honey (very cruel stuff is honey :( )

I'm sure you could get it vacuum packed and sent to me if you put your mind to it !!

is honey cruel because we steal it from the bees?

I second talking to the vegetarian. Some get all upset if there isn't a seperate meal and others are completely happy with the sides. I normally go somewhere in the middle and do at least one side dish that could also be a main veggie course. Stuffed peppers are good or I like stuffed butternut with ricotta and sage and some couscous. It seems sort of christmasssy with the sage and people tend to love it. Veggies get a half butternut to themselves and everyone else gets a slice as part of their side dishes.

Honey is cruel because you steal it from bees - yes, but more than that, many many many bees are killed when it's taken :( and it's unnecessary.

If you had already put it in I would eat it, unlike if you had already put meat in - but I never buy it or choose it if there is another option.

Bling - the butternut sounds lovely :) Do you have a recipe or do you just throw it together?

I would avoid stuffed mushrooms and stuffed pepper - they are such a standard fallback that you get a bit fed up of them and if you don't like them, you feel really really bad as someone has clearly gone to a lot of trouble to prepare it just for you!

I had no idea that bees died from honey collection.

I thought that honey was verboten for veggies due to the fact that it is regurgitated nectar, or in the words of dd 'bee puke'

If anyone feels like really making an effort for a veggie guest, and having another thing on the table for everyone to enjoy, then this is delicious. Delia's Sage & parsnip Roulade. Its a bit of a faff (though not difficult either) to make, but goes so well with all the trimmings (cranberry sauce, bread sauce etc..). My mother started making me this when I tuned veggie as a teenager, and everyone likes it so much that they now make it even when DH and I aren't with them for Christmas (as well as turkey of course!)

Apparently this chestnut and red wine pate en croute recipe is a winner, and can be made beforehand as well.

Another ex-veggie mushroom hater here - do check. And I still hate goose fat roasties, they just taste of fat.

GOML - no, it's more the harvesting than the 'regurgitation' - but it sounds cooler to refuse it on the basis that it's bee puke!

I don't really eat eggs either. If someone else has made something that has a bit of egg in it, I'll eat it - but I can't eat eggs (as in on toast etc) or quiche, frittata etc all I see is dead baby chicks - fertilised or not!

Dstepson is a lot happier with himself now he is a vegan. He always felt that vegetarianism was a series of compromises - do you eat eggs, do you stuff made from eggs like cake, do you eat gelatine.

It is a lot easier for him morally now he is vegan, but blimey it is hard for him shoppping (and particularly hard for a carnivore like me to cook for him - I really have to think).

The only thing he can eat at Christmas dinner which doesn't require seperate cooking is the red cabbage and the brocolli.

GOML - I was vegan for 4 years and felt the same. I physically felt better too (I'm much less congested when I don't eat dairy).

Morally I feel a lot better too as the dairy industry is as cruel as the meat industry.

I try not to eat too much that isn't vegan - but cheese & chocolate are my downfalls. The subs are just not the same.

I stopped being vegan when I lived overseas because it was virtually impossible to eat out and it was driving my (then) partner up the wall when we went out and to other peoples homes (not good friends, they were all fine, but 'new' people) - it was a nightmare for him and our relationship was suffering so I compromised - that has slipped into eating cheese/chocolate again. A bit the way you describe Christmas Dinner. However, it is OK in the UK and I really should go back to it.

I have been veggie long enough not to feel like I am making any decisions/compromises any more... I do what I do without thinking about it anymore. It's like a VegetarianPlus I also don't buy leather/fur etc

Maybe you are trying too hard - I found vegan at home easy, but then I guess I like pretty much everything and love vegetables etc so I might be quite different from your DSS!

Get the current Olive magazine (purple type cover) there is some vegi Xmas main course option there. Looks simple but impressive, can be prepared in advance. I'm going to cook it for DH.

Well, my stepson tries his best, but he is on a budget and is not the best cook.

I cook him loads of stuff like ratatouille etc which he takes away with him back to his flat, but I do worry about him getting all his nutrients. What makes it hard is that he really doesn't like a lot of veg, so it's not as if he can make a stir fry or something, he doesn't like half of it! Is hard being such a strict vegan but not liking half the things he can eat. Makes me laugh!

He lives on carby stuff like vegan bread, potatoes etc.

He needs to learn to cook bless him!

I didn't know that about bees either. :(

I normally buy locally produced stuff, so can my "buy local" moral counteract my murderous tendency?

I very rarely have honey, I'll have it as honey and lemon hot drink, but not as an ingredient - but mainly cos I don't like the taste.

Nickel - buying locally is admirable - but unfortunately in this case it simply means that local bees are being killed - so, no, not realllllllly counteracting!

GMOL - does he like lentils? If he's only tried them a couple of times and doesn't like themm get him to try them again well cooked with nice flavourings. I make a lentil bolongnaise type thing - I love it hot on the top of grated cabbage & carrot, but it's also good with pasta, on baked spuds, on toast etc. It's easy to make and freezes well. I used to have a great recipe for vegan 'cheese' sauce which was made with nutritional yeast - it's really yummy and good for lasagne, pasta, veggies etc in a cheese sauce. I like Soup, pasta bakes etc There is so much that's easy to make, it's a matter of finding things that aren't too expensive and faffy isn't it :)

I had a veggie for Xmas lunch and just went to town doing lots of extra special veg (at his request - he didn't want a substitute).
Think I did about ten veg and some different types of pots and different butters that Jamie O did to make them taste a little bit different.
Chesnut and shallots in the sprouts etc. and yorkshire puddings.

Unless you have a really big oven, I don't think you're going to fit the whole vegetarian in there. :o

Joking, joking, I'm joking, my sister is vegetarian, consider my ear firmly clipped.

For special meals (e.g. where everyone else is having a massive chunk of dead animal plus loads of trimmings) I usually make her a special veggie lasagne - proper roast veggies, flamed peppers (so the skin goes all black and you get that nice caramelly taste) and mushrooms for texture. You can make them in small dishes and freeze them in advance. In fact I think lasagne always tastes better if you do this.

Stuffed aubergine is also good - and if you are pressed for time you can use couscous for the stuffing, makes it really quick. Scoop out innards, blanch shells, fry up innards in cubes with veggies onions, garlic, mix with cooked rice or couscous (you can add loads of things to make it different at this stage - dried apricots, pine nuts etc) then stuff back in and top with cheese before roasting. My sis likes this with mixed wild rice.

Both of these are good 'centrepiece' dishes that go well with other veggies, sauce, mash etc - I think it works better & is more sociable than doing a veggie meal that is totally separate from what everyone else is eating.

Whatever you cook remember to cover it firmly with foil to avoid any meat juices spattering the vegi option.

We have a veggie friend, and we have given him a lovely stuffed mushroom with cheese, pine nuts and pesto as a main course (I tried it when we practised it and it was lovely), but I appreciate it was a novelty for me!

If it is an elaborate dinner where there is a starter, then main, then desert, then coffee etc, perhaps you could ask whether it would be OK just to serve the trimmings, especially if you add another filling dish like sweet potato or chick peas, which everybody could help themselves to.

Used to have friends that were veggie that would always do a veggie galette for things like xmas dinner to have alongside all the trimmings that the others were having with their turkey.

Was very tasty, alternating layers of pancakes and different sauces/veggies, depending on what they liked and fancied. So could be things like ratatouille, pesto, roasted veg, cheese sauce, chestnuts, pine nuts, all sorts of stuff would find their way in, would be different each time. You could probably put any of the savoury fillings in to it that have been mentioned on here, as long as there is enough moisture throughout so it isn't really dry.

Looked really nice, like a savoury gateau, they would use a spring-opening cake tin, had a frying pan that made pancakes the right size, so would cook up a batch then layer them with the fillings.

Pancakes make a nice change from pasta/lasagne although recently I've had a lasagne made using tortilla wraps rather than lasagne and that was surprisingly good - would be easier than making pancakes!

Had the advantage of being better if you made it in advance and then reheated the next day by which time the flavours had all had time to develop. Then you just need to pop it out of the tin and onto a serving plate, maybe sprinkle a bit of grated cheese on top, few chopped herbs and serve. Because it looks like a cake it looks really impressive and doesn't get mistaken for an extra stuffing!